Bulldog end facing felony charge

Posted: Thursday, July 03, 2008

Athens-Clarke police took out arrest warrants late this afternoon against Georgia defensive end Michael Lemon, charging him with both misdemeanor battery and felony aggravated battery, according to police.

Lemon, a redshirt sophomore, is expected to surrender to authorities Thursday morning on the charges stemming from a fight last weekend that seriously injured another UGA student, police said.

Demarius Jackson, a 20-year-old political science and international affairs major from Albany, said Lemon "sucker-punched" him at a cookout Saturday night at an apartment complex .

Lemon, 20, accused Jackson of talking to his girlfriend, the victim and witnesses told police.

"I know her, but I wasn't talking to her or anything like that," Jackson said.

Lemon was playing cards and drinking liquor with a group of men, Jackson said, when he got up and approached Jackson, who was sitting on a ledge near a grill at The Exchange, 255 The Preserves Drive.

Lemon spoke to him and turned to leave, but spun around and knocked Jackson to the ground with one punch, Jackson said.

Lemon, who is 6-foot-4 and 274 pounds, continued to pummel Jackson until someone pulled him off, according to police.

Lemon left the complex and Jackson was taken by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital.

Jackson was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion and "blowout fracture," a serious injury to the bone around the eye that might require surgery, he said.

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"I couldn't open my eye for two days, and now it's completely bloodshot and the left side of my face is numb," Jackson said. "I have to go to the doctor for a follow up next week to see how bad it is."

If he surrenders at the Clarke County Jail, Lemon will become the third Georgia football player arrested within three days.

Sophomore offensive linemen Justin Anderson and Trinton Sturdivant were booked into the county jail Monday night, after UGA police charged them with battery.

The men allegedly touched a pregnant woman's stomach and made lewd comments as they followed her at the East Campus Village dormitory Saturday night, police said.

Athens attorney Edward Tolley, attorney for the UGA Athletic Association, said the players denied the charge.

Lemon is represented by a public defender, who could not be reached for comment.

In all, at least six Georgia players have been arrested this offseason, and Lemon would make the seventh.

"I'm relieved something finally is being done," Jackson said. "It's taken four days, but the warrant was definitely a step in the right direction."

A conviction on an aggravated battery charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.